Herald Journal,
March 3, 2003

Education system keeps shifting definition of truth, speaker
says

By Lynda Jensen

Stripping Christian principles out of modern school textbooks
has shifted the purpose of public education from teaching knowledge to being
focused on social behavior ­ in which tolerance is the highest virtue,
according to author and speaker Michael Chapman.

Chapman spoke about "America's Censored Heritage"
to students at Mayer Lutheran High School Wednesday.

By removing the basic definition of right and wrong, which
is rooted in Christian values, modern education rests on a shifting definition
of truth that is determined by its popularity and consensus to the public,
Chapman said.

In fact, many history books have been rewritten to omit
Christian heritage ­ with the end result being an untruthful, censored
account of American roots, and a nation divorced from its moral roots, he
said.

Changing rules of the game ­ by definition

Public education no longer focuses on teaching knowledge
to prepare students for future leadership, but instead uses pieces of facts
to prop up a world view that everything is relative and there are no absolute
truths, he said.

History and literature are being replaced by social studies
in which students are being groomed for predicted social outcomes, he said.

"They've taken our language and used a different dictionary,"
Chapman said.

For example, the word "tolerant" used to mean
"the allowance of that which is not wholly approved" in the Webster
dictionary.

This definition was changed in 1986 to "recognizing
and respecting the beliefs, practices, or behaviors of others."

Nevertheless, students must learn right and wrong before
they even learn to be tolerant in the first place, Chapman said.

Even wording in math books is being changed to indicate
that mathematical principles are subject to interpretation rather than being
based on simple truths, he said.

This changing truth is called a "humanist" viewpoint,
which means that ethics are based on human experiences, and that human nature
should be allowed to explore itself, Chapman said.

"We, as Christians, know this means sin and death,"
he said.

Humanists practice their own style of religion in which
they profess that there is no God, and the universe was created by evolution,
among other things he said.

Regarding evolution, Chapman noted that a $250,000 bounty
offered to anyone who can prove that the theory of evolution is true is
yet unclaimed, and has been unclaimed for the past 20 years.

Humanists generally attempt to use external means, other
than self-control and morality, to solve social problems, he said.

For example, a humanist viewpoint about stealing is that
it is caused by poverty or the person's environment, Chapman said.

If this was true, then crime rates should have skyrocketed
during the Great Depression ­ but instead they dropped.

Christians profess that stealing is caused by greed and
man's selfish nature.

Chapman asked if anyone was familiar with Enron, and other
rich people caught doing dishonest things.

"If poverty causes crime, then wealth causes integrity,"
he said.

There are some who say that laws cannot legislate morality,
but laws essentially define what is right and wrong, Chapman said.

Chapman quoted President Abraham Lincoln, saying that "The
philosophy of the school room in one generation will become the philosophy
of government in the next."

"How do you change the constitution without an amendment?"
Chapman asked. "Have (court) justices redefine words."

In fact, the writers of the Constitution meant it to be
written that way the first time around, and its meaning is being twisted
out of its original intent by the Department of Education and appointed
bureaucracy, he said.

There are three pillars of good government, Chapman said:
religion, morality, and knowledge.

The first, religion, was replaced in the 1960s with relativism
based on religious humanism.

The second, morality, was replaced in the '70s and '80s
with situational ethics and the third, knowledge, is being replaced with
indoctrination for the purpose of changing society, he said.

In a letter from Thomas Jefferson to Justice William Johnson,
June 12, 1863, Jefferson wrote the following:

"On every question of construction, carry yourselves
back to the time when the Constitution was adopted . . . and instead of
trying what meaning may be squeezed out of the text, or invented against
it, conform to the probable one in which it was passed."

Chapman travels with his collection of rare books, showing
how modern day texts are edited compared to books used to formulate the
Constitution and other documents.

Also in his book collection are original turn of the century
school books, chock full of Christian wisdom, and, among other things, a
rare copy of Noah Webster's dictionary, among other books.

Separation of church and state

The idea of separating church and state is not incorporated
in the Constitution, Bill of Rights, or Declaration of Independence, Chapman
said.

All of the founding fathers were Christians who expected
Christianity to stay where it was when they originally laid the foundation
of American government ­ otherwise they would have worded the Constitution
and other documents differently, Chapman said.

In the first amendment to the Constitution, it reads "Congress
shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting
the free exercise thereof. . ." however, the forefathers' intent was
not to undermine all the work they just finished doing in the Constitution,
but to restrict Congress from encroaching on the free expression of religion,
Chapman said.

In formulating the Constitution, the Bible was referred
to 34 percent of the time as a source by its authors, according to a study
in 1988 by Louisiana State University.

For those interested in Chapman's work, contact him at
(952) 949-2776. A video tape or cassette of the presentation, and others
that Chapman does, are available for a fee.